Metamorphosis
by Bagpipedesaster
Summary: How something bad, that happened in the past, leads to something good in the future. KIBBS Chapter 4 and 5 are up! This is now COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

One more story for my fellow Kibbs-shippers. More chapters are in the make, so please review and I'll post.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the NCIS TV series.

X

„Ok, folks. Listen for a moment."

Tony and Kate looked at Gibbs, who was sitting at his desk and didn't look happy at all.

"There was an incident pointing to a possible terrorist threat that the secret service has been

investigating. They found that obviously Navy personal is involved some way. So we are

going to take over. The decision was made on top level, and they also decided that a secret

service agent will be assigned to the NCIS to _help _us and fill us in on what they have got so

far."

Tony couldn't help it.

"Oh my, a dream comes true…."

Gibbs shot him a glance that said: "I feel the same, but keep it to yourself!"

"Agent…." He looked down at the notes he had scribbled down during the call. "Agent

VanHusen will join us tomorrow morning."

Gibbs wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Kate flinch when he mentioned the agent's name.

"Since there's not much we can do right now, and we'll be pretty busy the next days, you both

can leave once you finished your paper-work."

"Hail to Mr. VanHusen," Tony cheered and plunged into his files. An early leave on a

Thursday and enough time to call Michelle…or maybe Nora?

Kate didn't seem to be that enthusiastic. She just picked up what she had worked on before

Gibbs' announcement. She would spend the evening mentally preparing herself to meet one

of the people from her past she'd tried to forget.

The next morning Agent VanHusen entered the NCIS headquarter and looked around, closely

observed by Gibbs who figured he didn't like him..

When he saw Kate, a sarcastic little smile showed on his face.

"Caitlin Todd! What a pleasure to get the chance to lay my eyes on you again."

Gibbs could see Kate was more than uncomfortable.

"No," he said to himself. "No, I don't like him at all."

Kate just gave a short nod.

"Agent VanHusen."

Gibbs decided to act professional. He would talk to Kate later.

"I'm special agent Gibbs, this is special agent DiNozzo and you obviously already know

special agent Todd."

VanHusen looked at Gibbs, trying to get a first impression.

"Yeah, we worked together on a few cases." He wondered whether Kate would comment on

that, but she just turned away. He suppressed a satisfied smile. This could actually turn out to

be fun.

He addressed Gibbs.

"Maybe we should go somewhere and I fill you in on what we got."

Gibbs motioned for Kate and Tony to follow and they all went to a conference room.

"Okay. The police informed us, that a victim of a shooting carried plan of the white house and

other strategically sensitive places. We identified the dead as Massoud al Teherani. He's been

nr. 87 on our most wanted list. There were no fingerprints on the papers except his. But we

got one witness that reported he saw a person in a Navy uniform hurry to a car and speed

away at the time our M.E. said he died. That and a videotape that has been damaged beyond

repair by three bullets are the only evidence we got."

Tony looked at Gibbs who gave him an almost invisible nod.

"What about the bullets?"

"Heckler&Koch, standard ammunition."

Gibbs looked at Kate to see if she wanted to ask VanHusen anything. She had positioned

herself as far away from him as possible without being too demonstrative.

He focussed back on the agent.

"Where's that video?"

"Do you really think you can do more than we can?"

"I didn't know we're competing. And since this seems to be the only lead we should try

anything possible to maybe get some information out of it."

"I'll have it sent to you."

"Good. Tony. I want you and agent VanHusen to talk to the witness again. If he remembers

good enough we could try and let him work with a photofit picture guy. Kate and I will go

over the file again. And we need this tape!"

VanHusen flipped open his cell-phone.

"On it."

While Kate went directly to the bullpen, Gibbs took a detour to pick up some coffee.

When he arrived at the office, he placed the cup on his desk and went over to Kate who was

already reading the file. He stood behind her and laid both hands on her shoulders.

"What's the story between you and VanHusen?"

He felt her tense.

"We worked together on a few cases, as he said. I can't say I like him."

"I don't either. Are you ok working with him?"

"As long as you never let me be alone with him," she thought.

"Sure. I don't have to like him to work with him."

"Good." Gibbs released his grip. But he was not convinced yet.

When they were ready to leave that afternoon, Gibbs rode the elevator with Tony.

"Tony, what do you think about VanHusen?"

"I can't judge his skill as an agent by now, but personally I think he's a crock. I don't like the

way he looks at Kate."

"Did she tell you anything about the time they worked together?"

"No. She just seems to try to avoid him wherever she can."

"Maybe we're both wrong, but I'm not willing to take a risk. Either you or me will be with

Kate anytime he is around."

The elevator stopped.

"Copy that," Tony said. Sometimes he really liked his boss.

Tbc?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I appreciate all your kind reviews! Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

X

Two days later, they all met in Abby's lab. The only one missing was VanHusen, who paid a visit

to his agency to update them on what they found out. Abby had been working on that

fragmented video-tape all night and had managed to save small parts of it. There was a clear

enough picture of a man in a Navy uniform, and Abby could identify him as a lieutenant John

F. Sinclair, dishonourably discharged fourteen months ago.

When they were about to leave to try to locate the ex-lieutenant, Abby stopped Gibbs.

"What's wrong with Kate, Gibbs? She looks like she hasn't slept for nights."

"Yeah, I know, Abbs. Has something to do with VanHusen, I reckon. I'll find out. She can't

go on like that."

Kate had found out where Sinclair lived and Gibbs advised Tony to check his background,

while he and Kate would observe Sinclair's house.

He really worried about Kate. He would have worried about any of his sub-ordinates being

miserable, but with Kate…. It hurt him to see how tight she was. He had the impression that

she needed a vast amount of strength just to come to the office every morning. The sparkle

and wit that had always shown in her eyes and that he loved so much was gone. He had to put

an end to that.

When they had parked the car so that they had a good view on Sinclair's house, they sat in

silence for a while.

FinallyGibbs turned to Kate.

She knew what was coming and tried to block him off.

"I'm fine, Gibbs. Just a little tired."

"You are not fine, Kate. You're wearing yourself out. Tony noticed, Abby noticed and I did

too. And I know it has something to do with VanHusen. Don't even try to deny that."

"He was one of the reasons I decided to take your offer for this job."

"What happened?"

"We didn't get along…."

"Kate, you know you can tell me, do you?"

"Yeah…"

"And that I'll back you up, no matter what…"

"I know Gibbs. And I know what you and Tony are doing for me. I really appreciate it. But

you don't have to worry. When we'll have finished this case, he'll be back with the secret

service and I'll most likely never see him again."

Gibbs knew Kate well enough to realize she wouldn't give out more information. But he

already had an idea.

When they were back at the headquarters, he went to Abby.

"Abbs, hi. I need you to do some computer magic for me."

Abby's eyes flashed with delight.

"Tell me what you need, Mr. Boss-man."

"I want you to hack into the secret service computer and find out if any female agents, that

worked with VanHusen resigned without apparent reason. Do you think you can do that?"

"Do snowmen melt in the sun?"

Abby started to type codes on her key-board.

"Did Kate finally tell you what's going on?"

"No, she didn't. That's why we have to try and find out this way."

"I'll call you as soon as I got something."

Abby found the name and address of a woman who quit two years ago. Megan Carter lived in

Annapolis now and that's where Gibbs was heading after they had finished the days work at

the office.

He rang the door-bell and a boy, about twelve years old opened.

"Hi, I'm special agent Gibbs. Is your mom at home?"

"Wait, I'll call her."

When the boy's mother came to the door, Gibbs introduced himself once more.

"Good evening, Ma'am. I'm special agent Gibbs. I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Special agent? CIA, FBI…?"

"I'm with the NCIS. But to be honest, this is no official visit."

"How do you think I could help you?"

"Do you know a secret service agent VanHusen?"

Gibbs noticed Misses Carter pale when he mentioned that name. He knew he was right on

track.

"I'm not sure if I can help you, or if I want to," she said after she'd recovered a little.

"But you can come in and tell me why you need that information. I'll decide then."

"Thank you, that's fair enough."

They sat in the living room and the kid was sent to play outside.

"Ok, special agent Gibbs. Tell me what you want to know about VanHusen and why."

"He's working on a case with my team. One of my agents, Kate Todd, has worked with

VanHusen when she was with the secret service. Something must have happened between

them, but she doesn't want to tell. She just admitted that he was one of the reasons she left.

So we checked whether any other female agents that worked with him left on own request.

And that's why I'm here. I hope you can give me a clue to why my agent seems to be almost

terrified in his presence and doesn't want to talk about it."

"You care for that agent?"

"I care about all my sub-ordinates."

She looked at him with a strange expression on her face. He suddenly made a decision. He

wanted this woman who didn't know him at all to help him. And this was no official mission.

"You're right. I care about her more than I do about other agents."

Mrs. Carter studied him a bit longer before she showed a sad little smile and got up.

"Want some coffee? This is going to take a while."

Tbc?


	3. Chapter 3

"Yes, thank you, ma'am."

Already on her way she turned around.

"We're going to have a rather personal talk. I think you better call me Megan."

"Jethro," Gibbs answered in return.

When she came back with two cups of coffee, she sat on the sofa opposite of Gibbs.

"What was your agent's name?"

"Kate, Caitlin Todd."

"I don't think I know her. She must have joined after my leave. Another victim for Art

VanHusen."

"Victim? I which respect?"

"Respect is just the word. He doesn't respect women at all…."

She paused and Gibbs knew better than to push her.

"Agent VanHusen has a habit of choosing a young female agent as his personal target.

And he's good at it. You never feel safe; he corners you when ever he gets to be

alone with you. And of course he makes sure, nobody ever sees anything."

"Did you report this to your superiors?"

"Yes, I was naïve enough to think they would help me. VanHusen's father is close to the

director. They served in the same unit, they are members in the same golf-club. I was advised

not to take the whole thing too serious. My complaint never made it into his files."

Gibbs could see how much having to recall this time of her live hurt Megan.

"Megan, I know this isn't easy," he said with a low voice, not trying to hide his sympathy.

"But he's still out there. He's still working with women. And I'm pretty sure he hasn't

stopped doing what he did to you."

Megan looked at him.

"What do you want me to do?"

"For a start, tell me exactly what he did. I'll talk to Kate then. And I'm sure we'll find other

victims if we look through the files of other female ex-agents. That's a lot of witnesses and lots

of testimonies. We'll bust him, Megan. We'll make him pay for what he did to you, Kate and

who knows how many others."

"They won't let you lay an eye on their files."

"We can do it. How do you think we found you?"

Megan still studied him. She had felt bad about VanHusen still being out there hunting. She

often thought that maybe she should have done more. And now fate had made the decision for

her. Gibbs definitely seemed to mean business. And Megan felt she could trust him.

So she told him her story, not leaving out the smallest ugly detail. When she started to cry,

Gibbs took her hand and gently rubbed her knuckles as she went on. And when she had

finished, he stayed for another hour and made sure she was ok, before he left.

In the doorway he handed her his card.

"Call me anytime. If you need help or just want to talk, just call, ok?"

"Yes, Thanks Jethro. I will."

Gibbs sat in his car for a while thinking about whether he should go and talk to Kate right

away or wait until tomorrow. But then, he knew he would have gone mad worrying about her

by then, and judging from the impression of the last days, she didn't sleep anyway.

Kate, who'd been staring at the same page of her book without reading for hours, wondered

who had the nerve to visit her at this time. When she opened the door, she was neither

surprised nor happy to see Gibbs.

He was like a Pit-bull. Once he found a trace he wouldn't stop until he knew all about it.

She knew she didn't have a chance to send him away, so she asked him in. She went right

back to her sofa and left it to him follow and find a place to sit.

Gibbs took off his coat and placed it over the back-rest of a chair. Then he sat down and

looked at Kate, trying to make her see, that he was here to help her, not to trouble her.

"Do you know someone by the name of Megan Carter?"

Kate thought about that for a minute.

"No, I don't think so. Is she connected with our case?"

"No, she been with the secret service."

"Must have been before or after I was there. Or we just never met. Why?"

"Before. She worked with agent VanHusen and she quit because of agent VanHusen."

Kate felt like the ground opened below her. He knew. He wasn't supposed to know.

She got up, went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, never drinking it. She

flinched when Gibbs gently touched her shoulder.

"Leave me alone Gibbs, please."

"No, Kate, I won't. I wouldn't leave any of my agents alone in a situation like this, and

especially not you."

She turned around infuriated.

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I can't take care of myself?"

"Kate, I just..."

She wouldn't let him talk.

"Are you saying that cute little Kate needs her mighty boss-man to protect her?"

She was punching his chest by now.

Gibbs stayed admiringly calm. He caught her hands.

"No, it means that I care about you a lot more then I maybe should."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay now, here come the last two rounds. I'm actually a little sad, that this is finished, I so enjoyed writing it.

You were all so kind, reviewing every chapter, Thanks a lot! And I would love you to give me a final feedback on this one.

X

She suddenly felt the urge to cry. She tried to pull her hands away and was surprised that he

let her go at once. She turned away and went back to the living room. This was too

embarrassing. She didn't want him to see her cry.

Gibbs picked up the glass of water she had poured and followed her. He sat down beside her on the sofa,

handed her the glass and rested his arms on his knees.

"Why didn't you tell me? I really thought you trust me." He sounded tired and sad. Kate

turned her head sideways and watched the man who was her boss. And the man she secretly

loved ever since she met him first on Air Force One.

"I do," she whispered, looking down at her hands again. "I just didn't want to bother you with

my problems. I thought I should be able to handle that on my own."

"Christ, Kate. I know I'm a bastard sometimes, but do you really think I don't care when I see

you suffer like you did the last days?"

Kate didn't answer.

"Megan told me everything VanHusen did to her. And she's going to testify. Abby will find

other women who worked with him. I want this guy out of business, Kate. Do you feel he

should be able to go on like that for ever?"

Kate shook her head.

Gibbs sat up and watched her closely.

"I want you to tell me what he did to you. There's no need to be ashamed. I'm your boss, ok,

but I'm your friend too, you know?"

"And I want to be much more than just a friend," he added in his thoughts.

"It's not easy," she sighed.

"I know. Take your time."

And Kate started to tell him about her hell at work. At first, she carefully thought about the

right words to give an objective report, but once she'd started it all spluttered out of her.

She told him how VanHusen had looked at her, about the remarks he had made. She tried to

explain how helpless she'd felt when he'd caught her without anyone else around and kissed

her and touched her in the most embarrassing way. She told him about VanHusen calling her

at home, torturing her with detailed descriptions of what he would do with her the next time

they were alone. And about the way her superiors had reacted when she finally had the

courage to report what was going on.

Gibbs hadn't interrupted her once. He listened closely and at some time had started to stroke

her hair.

She felt completely exhausted when she was finished, but also somehow relieved.

Gibbs reached out and gave her a short, reassuring hug.

"We'll have to write that down. But not now. It's time for you to get some sleep."

Kate got up.

On her way to her bedroom she turned around.

"Could you stay for a while?"

"Don't worry, Kate, I'll be here."

When Kate had left, he stretched out on the sofa. He wasn't picky about where he slept.

This was just fine. He thought about Kate, too aware that she was in the other room, so close,

but out of reach for him. He more than anything else wanted to hold her and protect her, now

that she'd let down her guard in his presence.

He'd just dozed off, when he felt her presence. She was standing in the doorway, looking at

him, not moving, not saying a word.

He sat up.

"Are you ok?"

"I can't close my eyes without seeing him…"

"Anything I can do?"

She blushed a little and looked down at her feet.

"Would you hold me for a while?"

Gibbs was on his feet and standing in front of her in one fluid motion. She shied away a little

on his fast approach.

Gibbs waited a second before he reached out and gently lifted her chin with his right hand.

"Anything, Katie," he softly said. "Anything, anytime."


	5. Chapter 5

At the office the next morning Tony told Gibbs that he had found Sinclair. He had talked to

him but Sinclair had insisted on meeting Gibbs before he would give away any information.

Gibbs called Kate who was seeing Abby in the lab and told her to join them. He didn't want

her to have to face VanHusen. When Kate stepped out of the elevator, her and Gibbs' eyes

met for a second. She saw him asking if she was alright and signalled that she was ok. Just

looking at him brought back the memories of the last night. She had felt loved and protected

in his embrace.

"Ok, protected." She corrected herself. "Don't put too much into that."

He had done nothing but to just hold her. And even though she had been in love with him for

quite a while, she'd never thought he'd be so caring and sympathetic. She was just glad he

didn't know how she saw him.

When they were on their way, Gibbs got a call from Abby. She had found two more women

that might have left the service because of VanHusen.

Gibbs called Megan. He thought that it might be a good idea to let her talk to them and try to

convince them to testify.

They met Sinclair in a small café. Tony introduced them.

"Mr. Sinclair, this is my boss, special agent Gibbs. And this is special agent Todd."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm special agent Michael Sinclair, FBI."

Gibbs recovered first.

"You were seen in a Navy uniform."

"I work undercover. I can't tell you too much as you will surely understand, but the plans

al Teherani carried had been provided by us. We had a deal to let him go if he led us to the next

link of the chain. I don't know what went wrong yet, but I sure know nobody should have

seen me at the site. There's no case. Not for you anyway. My boss is talking to your director

as we speak."

Gibbs looked angry.

"No wonder the bad guys keep us busy. We spend far too much time on problems caused by

our agencies not communicating the way they should."

"Agreed. I got to go. I need to find that leak. Sorry this occupied your time."

After Sinclair had left, Gibbs, Kate and Tony sat silent for a while.

Tony was the first to speak.

"What do we do about VanHusen?"

Gibbs and Kate had filled him in on their ride after he had already gotten pieces of

information by listening to Gibbs talking to Abby and Megan. He didn't know about last night

though, but sensed that something had changed between Kate and their boss.

"He'll leave as soon as it's official that we don't have a case. I had really hoped to get more

testimonies," Gibbs voiced his thoughts.

"Maybe we can arrange for him to have an accident?" Tony ventured.

"Not good enough," Gibbs stated grimly. "I want him to see the disdain and disgust in

people's eyes when they look at him."

Tony looked at Kate. She was quiet, too quiet.

"Can we set him up somehow?" he asked.

Gibbs thought about that.

"I don't think so. It would mean that Kate would have to serve as bait. It's not an option."

Kate took a deep breath.

"I want to do it, Gibbs. I'll feel perfectly safe knowing you and Tony are around. And I need

to put this to an end this time. I'm not going to run away again."

"I don't know, Kate…"

Gibbs remembered her the way she was the last evening. All scared and exhausted. Deep

inside he knew she had to do it to restore her self-esteem, to win back control over this part of

her life.

"Okay, we'll do it."

They planned everything and called Abby to prepare certain things.

Kate was nervous, when they came back to the headquarters. Gibbs and Tony would go in

first, not using the main entry, so that VanHusen wouldn't knew they were already there.

Before they parted, Gibbs gave Kate a look that made her shiver.

"Are you sure, you want to do this?"

"Yes, I am."

"You're truly a brave lady, Miss Todd."

When she had entered the bureau, she went to the corner that held the coffee machine as they

had planned. It didn't take long before VanHusen showed up.

"My, am I lucky! The case has been called off, and just as I think my chance is over, I finally

get to meet you alone."

He moved in real close to her.

"You've been avoiding me, Caitlin."

He pressed her against the wall and grabbed her hair. Just as he wanted to force a kiss onto

her he felt the barrel of a gun pressed against his head from behind.

"Gotcha!" Gibbs' voice was liquid steel.

VanHusen didn't move.

"Agent Gibbs. That's your testimony against mine. And I got friends in all the right places."

"Give me a list. I'll invite them to the show."

He grabbed VanHusen and turned him around, still pointing his gun at him.

"We got Kate and Tony," -Tony appeared in VanHusen's visual field, "...Megan Carter and myself

to testify. We got two more women that I think will talk once they're convinced you're out of

business. And we got a video…"

Tony motioned to the small lens that sat in a corner under the ceiling and smiled at VanHusen.

"Abby will probably never be nominated for an Oscar, but I'm sure it's good enough to put

you away for many years," he said, his voice not hidinghis satisfaction

"Tony, cuff Mr. VanHusen and take him out from under my eyes before I do something I

might regret later."

Tony did what Gibbs had asked for.

When they had left, Gibbs looked at Kate.

"Glad it's over?" he asked with a low voice.

Kate didn't look too happy.

"Yeah. It's good to know he won't do that to anyone again."

Gibbs moved a little closer.

"What's wrong?"

Kate couldn't help it.

"You don't have a reason to stay with me anymore…."

Gibbs reached out and gently touched her cheek. He couldn't believe he was that lucky. But

he had to make sure.

"And you want me to stay with you?"

As an answer Kate just looked at him. She looked at him the way a woman looks at the man

she trusts and loves.

He made the last step to close the distance between them and encircled her with his arms.

"I love you too, Katie."

That's how Tony found them when he came back. He stopped in his tracks, then he smiled

and turned to leave. On his way to the elevator he met Abby. He took her arm and made her

step right back into the lift.

"Abbs, we shouldn't be here right now. I'll explain over a cup off Caff Pow, Ok?"

Abby flashed a smile.

"Does that mean they...?"

"Yep!"

"That's good...really good!"

X

The End


End file.
